Red + Red = Blue

Red + Red = Blue
Gabriella Solti
Satellite Project Space
August 18-28, 2021

Hours: Wednesday-Friday 2-7pm, Saturday-Sunday 12-5pm

Special programs:
Exhibition Walk Through with the artist
Thursday, August 19, 6pm
Live online Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/255703923062530/

Handmade Japanese Papers, A presentation by Nancy Jacobi of Japanese Paper Place
Wednesday, August 25, 6:30pm
Online event: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/heritage-washi-paper-a-presentation-and-qa-by-nancy-jacobi-tickets-167465103633

Drop-in mini workshops and demos
August 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 from 12-5pm
The artist will be in the gallery demonstrating the colour interactions of various pigments. Visitors can try out the process and contribute to the production of a colour grid based on the pigments biochemical properties.

Red + Red = Blue
The exhibition features a series of watercolour paintings on handmade Japanese paper by local artist Gabriella Solti.
The artist’s work delves into the science of distilling pigment from the natural world that was practiced widely by artists before the advent of synthetic, mass-produced pigments. She collects common plants in local woods, clearings and roadsides and produces brilliant watercolour pigments that defy the traditional colour theory as they interact with each other as she paints with them. The various pigments (anthocyanins, betalains, metal-anthocyanins) change their colour unexpectedly once they mix directly on the paper due to their biochemical properties.
Gabriella’s interest in naturally made watercolour pigments is not motivated by historicization or nostalgia. She aims to develop an embodied knowledge and empirical understanding of materials while contemplating larger questions around the more than human world: questions of sustainability, materiality, and ways of being an artist today.
The exhibition and related public program more specifically explore the agency of materials. Where do colours come from and how do they interact?
The artist is grateful for the support of the London Arts Council through the City of London’s Community Arts Investment Program.

gabriellasolti.wordpress.com

Image: Pink Cloud, Gabriella Solti, plant-based watercolour on Sekishu Washi paper, 29” x 21”, 2019